Cyborg Ethnography - Expanding the Borders of Virtual Worlds
Author
Heuser, Morten Christian
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-06-07
Pages
80
Abstract
Game Studies søger i disse år nye måder at undersøge og diskutere computerspils brede betydning for samfundet. Dette speciale har til formål at validere den etnografiske tilgang – det vil sige studiet af kultur gennem tæt observation og deltagelse – som et redskab til at udforske spilverdener, og at tydeliggøre, hvordan etnografien må omformes, når den anvendes i disse miljøer. Specialet etablerer sit teoretiske udgangspunkt gennem en nærlæsning af tre hovedværker om virtuelle verdener (Boellstorff 2006, Nardi 2009, Pearce 2009). I disse værker er “virtuelle verdener” ofte indskrænket til bestemte typer af computerspil: MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) og MMOW (Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds) – altså onlineverdener med mange samtidige spillere og en vedvarende verden. Nærlæsningen bruges til at klarlægge de metodiske tilgange og centrale konventioner, der præger studiet af sådanne verdener. Med afsæt i nyere antropologiske forståelser af kultur argumenterer specialet for at udvide den virtuelle etnografi til også at omfatte andre spilformer. Dette vises gennem et feltarbejde i skydespillet Counter-Strike, hvor begreberne “embodiment” (kropslig tilstedeværelse og oplevelse), “spatiality” (rumlig organisering og bevægelse) og “persistence” (om en verden fortsætter med at eksistere over tid) analyseres. Specialet viser, hvordan disse begreber får en anden etnografisk betydning i spil, der ikke ligner de klassiske vedvarende onlineverdener. Med inspiration fra Donna Haraways tænkning om cyborgs og menneske–maskine-relationer udvikler specialet begrebet “cyborg etnografi” som en ny tilgang inden for virtuel etnografi. Denne tilgang gør det muligt at undersøge kulturer i og omkring computerspil, som hidtil har været overset eller vanskelige at studere med den traditionelle virtuelle etnografi.
Game Studies is currently seeking new ways to examine and debate the widespread impact of digital games on society. This thesis aims to validate the ethnographic approach—studying culture through close observation and participation—as a tool for exploring game worlds, and to clarify how ethnography must be reconfigured when used in these settings. The theoretical foundation is built through a close reading of three key works on virtual worlds (Boellstorff 2006, Nardi 2009, Pearce 2009). In these works, “virtual worlds” are often narrowed to specific types of games: MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) and MMOWs (Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds)—persistent online environments with many simultaneous players. This close reading maps the methodological approaches and core conventions that shape the study of such worlds. Drawing on contemporary anthropological understandings of culture, the thesis argues for expanding virtual ethnography to include other kinds of games. This is demonstrated through fieldwork in the shooter Counter-Strike, where the concepts of embodiment (bodily presence and experience), spatiality (how space is organized and navigated), and persistence (whether a world continues to exist over time) are analyzed. The thesis shows how these concepts take on different ethnographic meanings in games that do not resemble classic persistent online worlds. Inspired by Donna Haraway’s thinking on cyborgs and human–machine relations, the thesis develops the concept of “cyborg ethnography” as a new approach within virtual ethnography. This approach enables the study of cultures in and around digital games that have so far been overlooked or difficult to investigate with traditional virtual ethnography.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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